Rejected/approved 30-days Chinese visa with longer round trip?

[Adka]

Hi, 

 

I am interested if anyone has applied for 30 days Chinese visa (since, as I read everywhere, it's unlikely to get visa for longer than that) with a flight ticket showing longer period? I would like to know whether whether they were rejected (because they technically didn't have an outbound ticket within 30-days period) or approved by a Chinese embassy? 

 

Thank you! All advice is highly appreciated 

 

 

Adriana

[zhouhaochen]

the answer to that question is: yes, many people have and most have had no problems. Also some did and were rejected because of it. If it works, depends on the consulate, your nationality, the mood the person at the counter and probably a bunch of other random issues.

The solution is to book a flight somewhere on the web, apply without paying, print the thing out, take it to the embassy and cancel the flight straight afterwards. I have never heard of a single case where an embassy actually checked if you really are booked on that flight.

[datdere]

Is it really hard to get a visa for longer than 30 days? I got a 60 day tourist visa last december, no questions asked.

[fabiothebest]

Yes @datdere, for example I live in Italy and they clearly told me that they give max 30 days for a L visa (eventually just a few days more). What is your nationality? It seems there are differences from country to country even if it isn't officially written anywhere in the rules. I hope Adka's application won't be rejected though.

[simpleasy]

Can I ask why anyone would even try to get a visa this way? Wouldn't that mean you will overstay as soon as you get the 30 day visa? 

Overstaying doesn't seem like a good idea, unless you don't mind problems when applying for another visa some time later.

[Adka]

yeah, the embassy officer told me explicitly that they only issue tourist visa for 30 days now. @simpleasy: I bought the ticket before I had looked deeper into the issue of Chinese visa, I only knew they used to give longer visa as well before, but that has changed, unfortunately. And that's what I am worried about that the Chinese embassy will think about the possibility of me overstay the visa and I don't think that they want to have people illegally staying in China. I'm, of course, not planning to overstay, if I get the shorter visa I'll change my return flight. It would have made more sense to do it as Fabio did and book the shorter flight to even make sure I get the visa (or to book a fake flight without paying as zhouhaochen suggested), but for that is late now, so I am at least trying to find out if anyone has been successful in a similar case... 

[zhouhaochen]

Usually you can extend a tourist visa in Beijing for another 30 days once you are here.

The other discussions about "it is really easy or really hard to get a longer tourist visa" is not very relevant. What kind of visas are possible depends first on your nationality and the embassy you apply for. US citizens applying at some embassies in the USA often get tourist visas for up to one year (90 days per stay) without too many documents. Tourists from Albania who apply in their home country struggle a lot to just get a 15 day tourist visa. Same goes for which documents are required for what and if having a ticket that does not match with the dates for the visa you are applying for.

 

Plus this changes quite frequently, so for anyone reading this in a few months - this information is probably outdated.

 

That is why it would be very helpful if people who ask questions here and then go and do it, could post back with their experience and precise information: nationality, consualte applied at, agency used (if used), what applied for, what got, what was asked for, how long it took, how much they charge.

 

In general, an experienced visa agent in my opinion is well worth the money, because they know what the embassy you are applying at is willing to give for your nationality and requests what kinds of documents.

[Adka]

Got 30-days, I think I had luck though. Normally they send people away with a ticket that doesn't correspond with the visa length. @zhouhaochen, you said it's fairly easy to extend the visa in Beijing, could you advise me what kind of documents I have to have it and do I have to have a proof of where I am staying, even if it's with a friend? Thanks so much, I appreciate all the help! 谢谢

[fabiothebest]

Adka, thanks for the feedback. I'm going to China on July and I would like to extend my stay too. If you go on a tourism visa there are 2 possibilities: 1) you stay at a hotel (and you have to book it in advance and show the booking to the embassy when you apply for visa) or 2) you stay at a friend's apartment (you need an invitation letter containing the info about your friend, a copy of his/her id card, a copy of the contract of ownership or rent of the apartment, your info, the address and the duration of your stay). (If you told the embassy that you stay at a hotel, you theoretically should stay there and not at a friend house, else if you stated that you stay at friend's apartment it's fine. I mean, they may not to check it, anyway it's better to be coherent about what we say and do in order to avoid eventual problems). I know this because I'm applying for a tourism visa with an invitation letter. Then when you arrive to China you should register to the nearest police station within 24 hours. This is the law, there are people who don't do it, but this is especially necessary if you want to extend your stay. They won't let you extend your stay if you didn't register either when you arrived. So they need to know where you stay, when you entered and they can grant you an extension. Before even up to 2 months (up to 2 extensions of 1 month each), now I'm afraid they only grant 1 month extension. I also heard that you also need to show a proof of self-funding. I heard about 100 dollars/day. I still don't know how to show this, if they want a receipt of your bank account in your country or if we have to open a Chinese bank account and deposit the money or if eventually a friend can state that he will support you financially in case you need it. For the first registration within the 24 hours, any police station is fine, instead for the extension of your stay you have to go to a PSB (public security office). You can apply for the extension up to 7 days before the visa expiration date, anyway you can do it even shortly after your arrival in China, so you don't risk to do it late. This is all I know. If someone has more details, I'd also be interested in this.

[abhoriel]

I went to China on a 90 day L visa just under 2 years ago. The woman at the visa office had some reservations about the visa being granted but said she'd put in a good word. I think what really counted in my favour was the fact that I was going to China with a Chinese friend, who wrote an invitation letter and came to the visa office with me. Not sure if this is an option for you.

 

Either way, I wouldn't recommend overstaying the visa as it could cause problems should you wish to obtain another visa in future. They stamp visa with the date that you leave and you are required to bring previous visas to the visa office when you apply for a new one, so the fact that you overstayed would be pretty obvious!